On Wednesday, January 7th, officials at the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe School were made aware of social media content that had been circulating in the community, targeting staff. The posts were immediately reported to the LCO School Board and the LCO Police Department who are working with the multiple state and federal agencies to pursue a criminal cyber investigation. The posts have been determined to come from multiple (at least 5) fraudulent Facebook accounts and appear to be a targeted attack against a staff member, and has now grown to include students and the school as a whole.
The Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe School will continue to work with local and state law enforcement to assure that the students, staff and community are empowered to come forward with concerns regarding safety.
Students or staff that are tagged via social media to inappropriate or violent content are directed to take the following action:
- Screenshot and save the post
- Email the screenshot to jessica.hutchison@lcooskl2.org with as much information as possible, including time and the name/identifying information of the person tagging. This information will be shared directly with the LCO Police Department.
- Block the person/group that made the tag
- Parents are encouraged to review the settings of their child's social media accounts and to restrict accounts to private. Public accounts are more able to be targets of cyber attacks.
The LCO School Facebook page has been temporarily deactivated while the cyber investigation is being conducted. Parents, students and community members are encouraged to visit our school website at www.1coosk12.org for current school information. Students that are experiencing stress or anxiety as a result ofthis cyber attack are encouraged to contact a member of the School Counseling team.
The effort to assure that the students of the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe School are safe and supported is guided by adherence to Bureau of Indian Education and Federal Background check requirements which all staff are required to undergo prior to working at the school. This process is conducted by Human Resources for all hires and includes comprehensive multi-state registries and court reviews as well as fingerprinting. In addition to this work, we encourage all students and families to reach out to the school when concerns arise, as we are best able to advocate for the safety of everyone when we are all working together. Chi Miigwech for your continued support.
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Jessica Hutchison, Superintendent
Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe School
